General News of Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Source: happyghana.com

Martin Amidu was given all the support he needed - Pius Hadzide

Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide Deputy Information Minister, Pius Enam Hadzide

The Deputy Minister for Information, Pius Enam Hadzide, has said the Government from the onset of the setting up of the Office of the Special Prosecutor provided the needed support for the office to function.

The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, in his resignation letter to the President stated among other reasons that his office lacked the needed support for his office to function.

However, Pius Hadzide in an interview on the Happy Morning Show expressed otherwise.

He told Samuel Eshun, “We know that the office of the special prosecutor is quite young, still in the formative years. There have been some challenges about the place of work and all that but I also do know that a lot of steps were taken to be able to quickly and promptly establish that office and give it all the support that was needed for the office to function including the announcement of the gargantuan amount of I believe the 180 million Ghana Cedis allocation for the office to be able to function”.

Pius Hadzide expressed his surprise at the news of the resignation of the Special Prosecutor which he describes as “sudden” and “unpredictable”.

According to him, the office of the special prosecutor was borne out of the President’s desire to fight corruption. “He [Martin Amidu] was selected to be the first special prosecutor on his prior track record and commitment to fighting graft and so on and that was very much in keeping with the President’s desire and commitment to fight corruption and related matters. That was what underpinned the establishment of the office of the Special Prosecutor in the first place”, he said.

The Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, resigned from his position three years after he was appointed by President Akufo-Addo.

The former Attorney General wrote to the President Nana Akufo-Addo Monday saying his decision is to enable his appointing authority “to take steps to appoint a replacement to that position as required by law.”